SeaTree Emporium Claimed

Seaweed South Africa operates as a hybrid social enterprise, with SeaTree Emporium as our retail brand. We've created the Seaweed Association of South Africa to bridge the gap between science and industry, exploring how CSI contributions can facilitate the expansion of the local seaweed industry.

Our long term goal is to establish aquaculture operations, under the other business entity of our company, SeaBamboo Development.

There is immense potential to create new local value-add products from seaweed. Currently the main industry activities only focus on exporting the raw material, or producing a biostimulant from the kelp. We’ve decided to first focus on the food industry, to introduce South Africans to the wonders of this amazing sea vegetable. 

The next phase of the business will be to expand the fashion and home décor products. Other product applications include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and bioplastic. 

Our founder, Nadia Scheffer, became intrigued with kelp on the Muizenberg beach in 2015 while on holiday. After moving to Cape Town, she started experimenting with the strange material in 2018, discovering a technique to transform kelp into a pliable material. She approached a product developer in 2022 to explore the food applications of two other seaweed species, sea lettuce and nori.